Various devices have been designed to knit wrap yarn longitudinally in combination with the weft knit ground fabric. These have been relatively intricate, bulky and expensive. Since the mechanisms to operate these are confined in a smaller circle, few of them can be placed along the needle circle. These are also difficult to get to for repairs, maintenance or replacement.
Some large diameter multiple feed machines are being built, mostly with rotating needle cylinders. The ancillary parts necessary to rotate and co-operate with the cylinder needles for wrap striping become very costly and heavy. Weight is an important factor as a knitting machine has to stop instantly, when the automatic stop mechanism detects a fault. When this machine stops instantly the co-operating wrapping parts get shaken up.